Contents

Parts of the Space Shuttle

Drawing of Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was made up of 3 parts. These were the orbiter, the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters.

The orbiter was shaped like a large airplane with wings and a tail. This allowed the Space Shuttle to glide and land on a runway. This allowed the reusable part of the Shuttle to be very large. Many spacecraft which came before the Space Shuttle, like the Apollo used parachutes when landing, and landed on the ocean. People have said that the Shuttle was very much like a pickup truck because of its usefulness.

The shuttle was launched out of Earth's gravity and into space by 3 rocket engines on the back of the orbiter along with help from 2 long white Solid Rocket Boosters (also called SRBs) Fuel for the shuttle was stored in the large, usually orange, External Fuel Tank (also called ET). Before the shuttle reached orbit, the SRBs were released and fell into the Atlantic Ocean where they were towed back to shore for reuse. The ET was also released but broke up and fell into the Indian Ocean and was not reused.

The space shuttles

There was a Russian Shuttle called Buran. It flew one unmanned flight before being retired. The Buran was destroyed in a hangar collapse in 2002.

The space shuttles

History

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The shuttle was created in 1973. It replaced the Apollo capsules. The first flight was a test of the landing and maneuvering abilities of the shuttle. This flight used Space Shuttle Enterprise. The first shuttle flight in space was on April 12, 1981. It used Space Shuttle Columbia.

On January 28, 1986 the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds into the flight of STS-51L. It caused a year long stall in space flight.

Also in the 1990s, the Space Shuttle launched the Hubble telescope into space. Shuttle missions returned 5 times to repair and improve cameras and scientific instruments on the telescope.

On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up while returning STS-107 to Earth over Texas. The accident was caused by damage to the heat-shield which protects it from the heat of reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. It again caused a long delay until the next shuttle flight.

Now all the shuttles have retired they may be replaced by the Orion (spacecraft). But the government has not yet funded this spacecraft.

The three remaining shuttles will go on display at museums. Enterprise, currently at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia; will move to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, in New York City and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will receive the Discovery. Endeavour will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles and Atlantis will stay in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Images for kids

STS-129 ready for launch

Shuttle approach and landing test crews, 1976

Early concept for a space shuttle refueling a space tug, 1970

President Nixon (right) with NASA Administrator Fletcher in January 1972, three months before Congress approved funding for the Shuttle program

Vision for a Spacelab mission with various equipment in the Shuttle bay

Vision for Space Station Freedom, with an STS orbiter docked

STS-1 on the launch pad, December 1980

Discovery rockets into orbit, seen here just after solid rocket booster (SRB) separation

Tail-end of an orbiter showing various nozzles during an orbital maneuver with ISS

Atlantis was the first Shuttle to fly with a glass cockpit, on STS-101. (composite image)

The three nozzles of the Space Shuttle Main Engine with the two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pods, and the vertical stabilizer above.

Space Shuttle orbiter illustration

Space Shuttle drawing

Space Shuttle wing cutaway

Space Shuttle Orbiter and Soyuz-TM (drawn to scale).

Atlantis and Endeavour on launch pads. This particular occasion is due to the final Hubble servicing mission, where the International Space Station is unreachable, which necessitates having a Shuttle on standby for a possible rescue mission.

STS mission profile

Shuttle launch of Atlantis at sunset in 2001. The Sun is behind the camera, and the plume's shadow intersects the Moon across the sky.

Space Shuttle Main Engine ignition

Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) separation during STS-1. The white external tank pictured was used on STS-1 and STS-2.

Contraves-Goerz Kineto Tracking Mount used to image the space Shuttle during launch ascent

Multicolored afterglow of the STS-131 launch

Atlantis docked at Harmony module of the International Space Station

Astronaut with satellite to repair

Endeavour docked at ISS

Glowing plasma trail from Space Shuttle Atlantis re-entry as seen from the Space Station

Space Shuttle Endeavour being transported by a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

An overhead view of Atlantis as it sits atop the Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP) before STS-79. Two Tail Service Masts (TSMs) to either side of the orbiter's tail provide umbilical connections for propellant loading and electrical power.

SRB sections filled with solid propellant being assembled

Orbiter and the external tank, flanked by the two solid rocket boosters